Specimens: 



This species is occasionally taken on the tilefish grounds off 

 Block Island. Specimens have been observed from 3 to 4.5 feet 

 (TL) long. During 1956, 1,996 pounds of wolffish, valued at $85, 

 were landed at Rhode Island ports. 



Family Zoarcidae 

 Genus Macrozoarces 



(198) Macrozoarces americanns (Bloch and Schneider) 1801 

 Ocean pout, eel pout, ling, congo eel, blenny 



Specimens: (PLATE 69) 



This species is found throughout the year in Block Island Sound. 

 The "Deep Hole" east of Block Island is one of the best sources of 

 pout. In late winter and early spring there is a slight inshore migra- 

 tion of this species which spawns in rocky areas. For further in- 

 formation about ocean pout life history see Olsen and Merriman 

 (1946) and Gordon (1958 d). 



Economic Importance: 



Although utilized as a food fish during World War II, the pout 

 is now utilized chiefly as a trash species. A great many of the pout 

 in Rhode Island waters are infested with a protozoan parasite, 

 Plistophora, an intramuscular microsporidian which renders them 

 unappetizing in appearance. 



Genus Lycodes 



(199) Lycodes reticulatus Reinhardt 1838 

 Arctic eelpout, reticulated eelpout 



Specimens: 



Two 14-inch (TL) specimens of this species were taken by the 

 trawler Fish Hawk in Narragansett Bay in 17 fathoms, according 

 to Goode and Bean (1895). 



Genus Lycenchelys 



(200) Lycenchelys verrillii (Goode and Bean) 1877 

 Wolf eel 



76 



